There is an ever increasing demand for power conversion and regulation circuitry to operate with increased efficiency and reduced power consumption to accommodate the continuous reduction in size of electronic portable devices. Many portable devices are battery powered, and it is desirable to utilize as little power as possible to operate these devices so that the battery life is extended. Regulators, such as switching regulators, have been implemented as an efficient mechanism for providing a regulated output in power supplies. As an example, a switching regulator controls the flow of power to a load by controlling the on and off duty-cycle of one or more switches coupled to the load.
Switching regulators can be classified according to the circuit topology. As an example, a buck switching regulator is configured to generate an output voltage having a magnitude that is less than the input voltage based on a switching duty-cycle of one or more power switches. Similarly, a boost switching regulator is configured to generate an output voltage having a magnitude that is greater than the input voltage based on a switching duty-cycle of one or more power switches. A negative switching regulator is configured to generate an output voltage having a negative magnitude relative to the input voltage based on a switching duty-cycle of one or more power switches. Furthermore, a linear regulator can generate an output voltage having a magnitude that is linearly controlled instead of based on the on and off-switching of power switches. These types of regulators can be included as an integrated circuit (IC). However, power switches within a given regulator can have a substantial size to support a large current flow, and can thus occupy a substantial area on a die that is fabricated as an IC.